Runaways
by beifongfirebender
Summary: Azula is living in hiding when she gets an unexpected visitor...
1. Chapter 1

_**This doesn't tie into any of my other stories, it's its own thing… I was sort of thinking about Azula lately and feeling so sorry for her (she'd hate that…) so I decided to share this.**_

 _ **For anyone who hasn't read the Search or Smoke and Shadow: Kiyi is not my OC, she's Zuko and Azula's younger half-sister. She's 14 here, so Azula is somewhere between 25 and 30.**_

 **oooooooooo**

 **Chapter 1**

The trick to avoiding capture while on the run was pretty simple to understand. One just had to throw away any thought of ever being completely safe. Once you were a fugitive, that's what you were until they caught you.

Azula was quick to internalize that rule. No matter how comfortable she felt, she remained aware that her faith could change at any moment. Even years after her escape from the mental institution she was prepared to move her whole life at the smallest sign of trouble. Whether it was a prying neighbor, a single wanted poster or someone following her home.

That's why she immediately noticed when a cloaked woman started shadowing her on her way from the market. She made a couple of wrong turns to make sure, before passing right by her house and leading her stalker into an abandoned, dark alley.

She waited for the woman to make the turn and when she did, surprised her by stepping out of the shadows and pinning her to a wall. Now that she had her hand around her stalker's throat, she could see it was not so much a woman as it was a girl, pale and weak, trying desperately to speak, but letting out only quiet gasps as she struggled for air.

"I'm… Your… Sister…" the girl managed. Azula needed only one look into her desperate eyes to know it was the truth. She loosened her grip and the girl fell to the ground, clutching her throat and gasping for breath.

"You're her brat… How dumb of Zuko to send you first. Where is he anyway?" Azula's palm lit on fire as she turned around violently, "Come out, come out, Zuzu!"

"He's not… Here… It's just me." Kiyi found the strength and the courage to stand up again.

"You expect me to believe you've found me all on your own? That a ten-year-old succeeded where an army has failed?"

"I'm fourteen."

Azula shook her head and then started walking away.

"Hey, wait!" the girl followed.

"Just run home, Kiki!"

"It's Kiyi."

"Thanks. Just run home, Kiyi!" Azula quickened her pace, but so did her half-sister.

"I can't. Ever. I ran away." Kiyi said like she was unloading a big burden from her heart. That was the first time those words actually left her lips.

"Well, write a sad song about it, why don't you? And leave me alone." Azula thought a hitwoman was onto her, and it just ended up being a teenage drama in progress, "Go find your mom if you want a shoulder to cry on."

"No, I hate her." Kiyi said with an especially toxic tone. Azula almost liked it.

"I never want to see her again." the girl added, "That's why I wanted to find you. So I could live with you."

"Are you insane?!" Azula snickered, "Didn't you hear the stories? I'm dangerous."

"I don't care about that… We're sisters." Kiyi smiled innocently.

After hearing that Azula stopped and made eye contact with her.

"I don't have a sister." she said strictly.

"Alright, half-sister. But we have the same mother…"

"That's where you're wrong. I don't have a mother. Never did."

Kiyi said nothing, but still followed after when Azula started walking. With a few more steps they were in front of Azula's house.

"Please, I don't have anyone else." Kiyi pleaded.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you took this little field trip." Azula unlocked the door and left her bag inside.

"Please! I'll-"

"Zip it! Go home, child!" Azula started closing the door, "And if you even think about outing me by shouting my name at the door, I will put my hand around your throat again and this time I won't stop."

And with that the door slammed in Kiyi's face. She felt like crying more than anything else. But she couldn't let herself. No. That would just prove Azula was right calling her a little kid. And she wasn't. She was doing alright up until that moment because she had a goal. Somewhere, or rather someone to reach. But now that she was here it was anything but what she expected.

As the sun was almost completely set by that point, Kiyi sat down on the side of the street and hugged her knees, leaning against Azula's door. _She'd come around_ , the girl thought. She had to.

 **oooooooooo**

Kiyi must have looked very desperate sitting on the ground, because a few of the people who passed by threw coins into her lap. And honestly, she did feel completely pathetic. But as she sat waiting for hours, thinking about her current situation she was beginning to feel quite angry too.

"Want to make some real money, little girl?" a shady-looking man appeared in front of her all of a sudden.

"No, thank you." she hated the way he was looking at her. He was one of those people you just felt like running from even though they haven't done anything wrong, really.

"Are you sure? You're very pretty, I could easily find a use for you."

She was obviously going to have to make herself clearer.

"I said no!" she stood up suddenly, "Now piss off!"

Kiyi never actually spoke like that to another person, but she was discovering she had a taste for it.

"That's what all of you say at first." he tried to grab her arm, but she moved out of the way and decided to make a run for it.

She was a really fast runner, but panic was starting to get to her. She made it half way down Azula's street before she realized there were no more pedestrians anywhere in sight. She was completely alone with that man.

"Don't come any closer!" she wasted no time, but turned back around and threw a warning ball of fire in the man's direction.

Unfortunately, she was so preoccupied with keeping him in check, she didn't even notice his friends sneak up on her from the back. Instead of grabbing her, the two men spilled a full barrel of something oily on her.

As she struggled to get it out of her eyes, she slipped and fell to her knees.

"If you even try to firebend again, this will ignite and your whole body will burn."

Kiyi could see again and she was desperately trying to get the liquid off her skin and clothes, but it was proving impossible. Without her bending, she had no defense against the three of them.

"I don't need to bend, I'm not afraid of you!" she lied.

The man simply smirked and started tying her hands together. She struggled, but it didn't seem to bother him. Kiyi felt like crying again, when suddenly all three of them let her go and started running away.

"That's right! You better run!" Kiyi screamed after them before hearing footsteps behind her, "Azula?"

And it really was her sister, displaying one of her infamous blue flames.

"Get in the house. Come on, quietly."

Inside, Kiyi was allowed to use the bathroom to wash herself of that disgusting oil and change into some fresh clothes. She might have allowed herself a few tears in there before washing her face, but that didn't really count, did it?

"Azula?" Kiyi peeked out of the bathroom, fully dressed in her older sister's a-size-too-big clothes.

"Oh, yes. Here." the woman handed her a stack of sheets, "One night. That's all you get. I want you gone in the morning."

Kiyi nodded.

"That's for the sofa, over there." Azula added, "I don't have a guest room, for obvious reasons."

"Thank you."

 **oooooooooo**

Azula watched Kiyi as she struggled to make her bed properly, while wondering how this girl even made it this far on her own without getting herself kidnapped, killed or falling off a cliff. Then Kiyi sat down on the sheet just like she did on the street and completely froze like that.

"That thing they poured on you is really nasty." Azula started, "It's called Dragon Snare. They make it from a mixture of natural oils which makes it highly flammable. Even the slightest spark of fire or lightning and… You catch fire."

Kiyi just nodded. Oh, so now, now she's quiet.

"That's why you should have left when I told you. It's not safe here at night. For those like you, at least… They were probably planning on selling you." Azula noticed the girl wanted to say something, "Please, don't ask me what for…"

"No… I wanted to ask if the front door was locked." the girls voice seemed more brittle than before.

"Yes, it is." Azula's answer didn't seem to put the girl at ease. Oh, the hoops she had to jump though to get through this night. "And they know I live here. They wouldn't dare think about going inside."

After another nod from Kiyi Azula was officially done. She said something along the lines of _Good Night_ and retired to her room.

When she got up in the middle of the night to drink, she didn't even remember she had a guest. At least not until she walked into the living room and saw Kiyi there, wide awake, holding a sword at her neck.

"Put that down!" Azula took it from the girl, "That is not a toy! If you wish to kill yourself do it somewhere else."

"I'm not- I wanted to cut my hair. That's all." Kiyi explained, but her sister didn't look convinced, "I swear! I never liked it, only she did."

"Well, I don't know what kind of theater dramas our mother's been feeding you," Azula walked into the kitchen and then swiftly returned handing her a pair of scissors, "but out here in the real world, people use those."

Kiyi looked even more determined now that she had an audience for her little act of rebellion. She took Azula's silent observation as support, while she cut the first few locks. Her hair, when let down, reached all the way to her waist, but she was cutting it around the shoulder now.

"Stop, I can't watch this anymore… Give me." Azula moved over to sit next to her and put out her hand demanding the scissors.

"You want to help?"

"No, I just can't bear to watch incompetence. Now turn around and don't move."

The girl obeyed without question. She seemed to be recuperating from her foul mood from earlier, as far as Azula could tell.

"You know, it's been three days since I ran away." Kiyi attempted to get a conversation going.

"You still haven't told me how you found me." Azula knew encouraging the girl was the last thing she should be doing, but if there was a weakness in her plan, she had to know.

"We just think alike, I guess… Do you want to know why I decided to leave?" she asked even though she was pretty sure the answer was _no._

Azula barely even heard the question, since while she was cutting she noticed the bruise on the girl's neck from their first encounter.

"If you can finish it before I finish the haircut."

Something about the look of the bruise, paired with the gentle sounding voice of the girl made Azula feel truly awful. But that was before she knew who she was dealing with, she couldn't be held responsible for that, could she…

"… Even when it was time for me to go to school, she just hired tutors to come to the palace. She planned on never letting me leave. Or do anything I want. And Zuko doesn't even care, he's just thinking about his work all the time."

Azula wanted to ask about Zuko, how he was doing, about him and Mai, but if she showed the girl even a little bit of interest she'd never shut up.

"Here. Done." Azula stood up to leave, "Go to sleep."

"Azula… Could I maybe, please, stay here some more?" Kiyi pleaded.

"Absolutely not."

"But… Please. I came here because I knew you could teach me."

"Teach you what?"

"You know… How to live on your own when everyone's looking for you."

"We are not in the same situation and I am not teaching you anything. You're gone in the morning, so I suggest you get some sleep."

"I have money, I can pay you." Kiyi reached into her pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. This seemed to get Azula's attention back.

"How much do you have?"

"All together? Between three hundred and four hundr- Hey!" Kiyi objected when her sister yanked the money out of her hand, "That's mine!"

"It just so happens the night and the clothes with the haircut come up to about three hundred to four hundred also. How lucky…" Azula did a quick count of the bills ignoring Kiyi's sulking.

"You can't just-"

"You wanted a lesson from me. Here it is: you don't tell people how much money you have, you certainly don't show them where you keep it!"

"Alright, I can remember that…" Kiyi calmed down and sat down, "I didn't think that included you. We're family…"

"Second lesson, you never trust someone, no exceptions. Whoever they are, they will always, always turn you in."

"But if they're on the run too…"

"Especially, then. If people are given the choice between helping you and helping themselves, they'll chose themselves every time without exception."

"That's not true." Kiyi insisted.

"Well, let's see… I could just give you the money back, but I think I'd prefer to send you out without it in the morning. It'll get you home sooner."

"I'm not going home! No matter what happens." Kiyi lied down so she didn't face Azula anymore, "I'm not gonna be her little doll anymore."

Azula took that as their conversation ending and quietly walked to her room, putting out all the candles on her way. She had trouble sleeping the rest of the night, something that didn't usually happen to her. After some time, she simply gave up.

 **oooooooooo**

Kiyi wasn't exactly sure how long she slept, but she could gather it was already near noon when she woke up. The first thing she noticed when her vision cleared was her money, lying on the table next to where she slept.

"Azula?" she sat up and checked the bills. They were all there. "Azula, thank you! Azula?!"

Kiyi circled the entire house two times, but there was no sign of her sister. She was surprised, but maybe she shouldn't have been. She said it was going to be only one night at the very start. Kiyi wanted to be glad she at least got her money back, but she couldn't bring herself to care about that in the moment.

Once again, she was alone. Completely alone.

She sat down and cried, for real this time.

 **oooooooooo**

 _ **Anyway, I was planning on continuing this. I don't usually leave things at one chapter…**_

 _ **Tell me, if you'd be interested in reading more chapters of this.**_

 _ **Also, I made up the part about Ursa being overly controlling to Kiyi, but from what I saw in Smoke and Shadow, is it that much of a stretch really? While growing up kids often ask for more and more privacy and I think that would just make Ursa try to control her daughter even more, wishing she could stay her baby forever.**_

 _ **Anyway, remember it takes literally seconds to leave a review and I appreciate every single one with a burning passion… :)**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Since you people seemed interested I decided to continue this… I don't know how fast I'll be, though, since college is a needy bitch.**_

 **oooooooooo**

 **Chapter 2**

Kiyi's tears were a long time coming. She'd been trying to show herself how strong she was ever since she left home, but now after letting everything out, she seemed to see everything more clearly.

Azula actually did her a huge favor. She left her with money and a place to stay. This had to be enough for her to finally start taking care of herself. Kiyi stopped crying, as she repeated Azula's two rules in her head. Don't brag to people about the things you have and, of course, don't trust anyone.

Don't count on anyone… That must feel lonely after a while. It was unimaginable to her how someone could live disconnected like that for years. But maybe she'd learn it by the time she was Azula's age.

Don't count on anyone, you don't need anyone…

Then the door opened slowly, and Azula walked in casually, carrying yet another bag of groceries.

"You don't look like you're getting ready to leave." the Princess said from the door.

"Azula? Yeah, I… I will. Soon." Kiyi was glad she didn't catch her crying, "I thought you'd left, for good."

"You're such a child…" Azula shook her head, "So you were preparing to leave?"

"Yes, definitely."

"Too bad then… Just seeing how it's pouring outside, I thought you could stay a while." her words made Kiyi's whole face light up, "provided you pull your own weight around here. I'm not going to serve you."

"Yes, ma'am!" the girl stood up delightedly and took Azula's bag to the kitchen for her.

"Does that mean you're going to teach me?" Kiyi asked from the kitchen.

"It means I won't throw you out on your spoiled behind. Yet. Isn't that enough?" Azula yelled from the living room, "Make us some tea for a start!"

Kiyi immediately obeyed, trying desperately to seem indifferent to the situation, while she felt like jumping with joy. She had a purpose now, not disappointing her sister. Showing her that she had potential.

She unpacked the bag and noticed it was nothing but tea inside. Kind of a weird shopping list for someone who already had so much tea in her kitchen.

"Do you put the tea in before you boil the water or after?" Kiyi asked reluctantly.

"How did you grow up in the palace with my uncle and not learn that?" Azula got no answer, "Boil first, then wait a while then pour it over the leaves. You want me to come there and-"

"No, no… I got it!"

"Suit yourself, but you break something you're paying for it!"

While the girl was working Azula tried to relax on the sofa and not think about the clashing of porcelain she was hearing from time to time coming from the kitchen. She had to learn sometime… Finally, in about ten minutes, Kiyi emerged carrying a tray with cups and a teapot.

She was still beaming like it was the happiest day of her life, while she poured the two of them a cup each.

"How is it?" she asked excitedly, before Azula even had a chance to taste it.

"It leaves room for improvement." the Princess lied. Somehow amongst all the fiddling around in the kitchen, the girl made the perfect tea. But she couldn't go ahead and tell her that…

After a few moments it was clear Azula wanted to drink her tea in peace, but there was no way Kiyi would let her. After so many year of hearing stories about her older sister, she was finally there, in the same room as her.

"So how long's it been since you've seen Zuko? And Mom? Oh, and Mai?" Kiyi ended the silence.

"It's hard to say…"

"And what kind of places did you see? Were you in the Fire Nation the whole time? Or did you travel the world… I bet you did." the girl seemed to speak quicker and quicker with every sentence.

"Let's not dwell on the past." Azula sipped her tea carefully, already rethinking her decision to let the girl stay.

"Oh, I get it. Let's not. Can you tell me what else we'll do today? Like, could we duel maybe? Just for fun, I mean… Oh, I want to do that!"

"You ask a lot of questions."

"You can ask me questions too. After all, we're s-"

"Don't. Don't say it."

"Can I just do one more and then I'll be quiet?"

"I doubt it, but alright…" Azula sighed.

"Do you ever think about coming back?" Kiyi asked and fixated her look on her sister.

"No." at least it was an easy question.

"Never? Not even if they all missed you and wanted you back?"

"No one's missing me…" Azula said like it was the end of the conversation, but Kiyi couldn't just leave it at that.

"They are, you know. Especially, Mom."

Azula snickered dismissively.

"I'm telling the truth." Kiyi insisted, "She stays in her room some days, looking at old portraits that were taken down and crying... She never said anything, but I always knew it was about you. Not that anyone wanted to talk to me about you."

"But why do you care… I though you _hated_ her." Azula really didn't want to think about her mother missing her. It was a lie, a ruse, for sure. "Don't you think she's crying for you right now?"

"Let her." Kiyi said in a tone Azula hadn't really heard from her until then, "Ever since my father died a few years ago, she's been insufferable. I had no choice."

She stopped and waited for some kind of reaction from her sister, but got none.

"I mean," she continued, "I had to have a security detail following me everywhere. She went through my stuff all the time, she always had to know what I was reading… And spirits forbid I'd fall down in training or something, because it's straight to the physicians…"

"Sounds dreadful…"

"It really was. But I knew you'd understand… Since we're not that different."

"How do you figure?" Azula had to hold back a laugh there. It was beyond obvious this child and her had less in common than… Well, her and Zuko.

"You know, Mom mistreated both of us. So we left and now we're better off." As Kiyi talked she could see Azula's usually indifferent face expression turn angry. And she didn't like it one bit.

"You don't know what you're talking about…"

"I… I just meant we both deserve better-" Kiyi shut up as Azula suddenly stood up.

"You think our childhoods were the same?! You really think that?!"

"Not the same, of course…" Kiyi felt the urge to stand up as well, since she didn't feel safe sitting down anymore. She could swear Azula's eyes glowed with rage at that moment…

"Tell me, did Mother ever tell you there was something wrong with you?" Azula pushed over the chair Kiyi had been sitting in, "Or even better, tell you there is something wrong with you over and over and over again, without ever saying what?!"

"Azula, I'm sorr-"

"No, no… You said you wanted to duel. Well, let's do that now!" Azula sent a stream of blue fire in Kiyi's direction. The girl diverted it easily, but she was downright terrified.

"And tell me, were you ever thrown in solitary?! That could lead even the sanest person into insanity…" Azula hit Kiyi's leg and the girl fell to the floor. Then she kneeled next to her and held her face down on the floor.

"Did your father ever hold your face into the ground and tell you he'll let you choke if you ever fall like that again?! No?" Azula let go of her sister and took a few steps away, still breathing heavily, "Then you have no right comparing us."

Kiyi stood up as soon as she could, still in shock at how quickly the situation turned. As she looked at Azula pacing around angrily, everything she said hit her at once. Her eyes started filling with tears. She hoped her sister wouldn't notice, but it was clear she did.

"That's it! Cry! Cry like the sniveling child you are…" Azula come face to face with her again.

"Hey, I'm not the one having a tantrum!" The words left Kiyi's lips before she could think. Now she could only hope Azula wouldn't give her a matching scar to Zuko's. Despite all the fear Kiyi kept eye contact for a few moments, when Azula finally turned around and closed herself off in her room.

"Don't you dare set foot outside this house! I'm not going out there looking for you if you get yourself into something again!" Azula ordered from the room after a while, like she could hear Kiyi's thoughts.

 **oooooooooo**

And the house was mostly quiet for the next ten hours while the rain continued.

Both of them were masters of being stubborn, but one of them had more years of experience. Kiyi finally buckled and gently knocked on her sister's door.

"I figured you must be hungry by now, so I made soup." Kiyi didn't really know how to act, but this was what her father used to do when she was mad, "Can I bring it in? Please."

"The door is unlocked." she heard from inside and entered slowly. She found Azula sitting on her bed, reading a book.

Kiyi wanted to mention this was her third attempt at making soup that day, but decided against it. She tasted her dish before bringing it and it tasted decently souplike…

"If you want some more time to yourself, I can just leave it somewhere," Kiyi couldn't find the appropriate place on the cluttered desk, "Or I could just give it to you. Here-"

Kiyi's hand slipped and she dropped the entire plate, spilling the scorching hot soup all over the bed and Azula's shirt.

"Sorry, sorry! Let me- Sorry…" Kiyi hovered around, while Azula jumped off the bed and quickly removed her shirt. This left her standing there in just her breast bindings and gave Kiyi a good look of her considerable collection of scars.

Azula's hands were completely covered with tiny burn marks, while her stomach and back were filled by all sizes of cuts, all distinctly old, but quite deep.

"It's not nice to stare." Azula said, rather calmly, and Kiyi immediately diverted her gaze to the celling while her sister changed shirts.

"I'm really sorry…" she repeated, but got nothing back.

There was more soup left in the kitchen, so while Kiyi cleaned up the mess, Azula finally had dinner. The entire time she changed the sheets, Kiyi thought about her sister's scars, or rather, how they got there. Then after she was done, she slowly made her way into the living room and quietly sat beside Azula.

"What happened to you?" Kiyi asked, careful not to cause her anger again.

"Thank Zuzu and his damn bounty…"

"No... He specifically asked for you to be taken alive, because he didn't want you to be hurt." Kiyi remembered asking their brother about it.

"There is room for a lot of creativity between _hurt_ and _kill_. And a lot of bounty hunters wanted to make sure I couldn't run… But for most of them it was the last thing they ever did."

"Is that why you knew about Dragon Snare?"

"Yes, they all bring it if they're hunting a firebender…"

"Is that how… Your hands?" Kiyi was really never taught how to ask or talk about difficult topics. In her home they just avoided talking about them, but that solved nothing…

"No." Azula pulled up one of her sleeves, revealing the burn marks, "I used to do it to calm myself back when I was locked up."

Kiyi was completely quiet while listening to her sister speak. She tried to keep her face indifferent, but Azula could read pity on her.

"What's the matter, kid? I'm not what you expected?"

"I'm sorry you were alone. No one deserves that. No one…" Kiyi briefly considered holding her sister's hand, but then the broken chair from earlier caught her attention. Maybe it was safer to just use words.

"Thank you for still not kicking me out." she added.

"So what did our dearest mother do to send you running to me? Did she get mad? Lose her temper and slap you?" Azula asked, but got no answer, "You said I could ask you questions."

"It seems stupid now."

"And I'm sure it is. Out with it."

"Alright, so that day I was talking to my security detail, nice girls both friends of mine, and they both said they were my age when they started working there. And they tell me they weren't half as good as I am when they started. So the head of security hears us talking in the halls and he comes over and offers me a job defending the palace and Zuko. And I'm so happy, I can't even believe it, but then Mom comes out of nowhere, freaking out as always… And I swear I'm not exaggerating, she starts telling me off in front of everyone, how I'm just a child, how I can't decide for myself and she drags me to my room by my hand, like I'm five… And she reassigned my friends because of that. What a bitch…"

"Sounds very-"

"And when we're in my room she just keeps going on and on about how I'm a child… And then I mentioned, once, all the things you were doing when you were fourteen and, you know, she always reacts to your name like it's a cuss word… And she grounded me for the millionth time when it dawned upon me that she'd never let me live my life."

"But you get why she does it, right? She was barely a mother to Zuzu and never anything to me… That's why she wanted to make up for it-"

"It's not my life's purpose to make her feel better. I don't know what it is yet, but it's not that…"

"I mean," she continued, "Maybe the idea to find work did come out of nowhere for her and maybe I should have apologized for mentionin-"

"Never apologize for who you are. Never. That's why I'm never coming back there…" Azula paused, "You put it well last night. I'm done playing dolls in that house."

"Well, you know, time for bed…" Azula said after a long silence and they stared at each other for a few moments before Kiyi stood up to go get her sheets, "Wait. I'm joking…"

The Princess smirked, "Do whatever you want…"

 **oooooooooo**

That night Azula didn't sleep at all. She paced around the house a lot, occasionally sitting down to think.

At one point, thinking she finally had it, she packed a suitcase. She also returned all Kiyi's things to her little bag. She was an inch from waking the little troublemaker when she gave up.

Azula was beginning to feel comfortable and that was never good.

 **oooooooooo**

 _ **Thank you everyone for the comments and likes, you made me feel so sorry I stayed away from my account for a while.**_

 _ **Thanks, I actually did mean over-attentive, protective… just your typical helicopter mom wanting to keep her baby a baby forever and taking it too far.**_

 _ **You'll have to forgive me for Azula's outburst, but emotionally neglected kids tend to not handle their emotions very well.**_

 _ **That is all for a few days…**_

 _ **I'd love to hear everything and anything you have to say… :)**_

 _ **I do apologize for any mistakes I make, but I am so sleep-deprived it's criminal.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thank you, thank you, thank you for so many comments and likes… Seriously, I never get so many in such a short time:)**_

 _ **Thinking about this and writing it slowly has made my last week before the winter break bearable. Another few days and I will be a free woman and then the chapters will probably come more often.**_

 _ **Still not sure how long I'll make this.**_

 **oooooooooo**

 **Chapter 3**

"What's next on the list?" Azula asked, but realized she was talking into the wind, "Kiyi, what are you looking at?"

"Is it always this noisy?"

"It's the town square, so yes." Azula shoved her way through a particularly dense crowd, "Now, come on, your culinary adventures yesterday are the reason we're out of everything."

"It would be a lot nicer here if the musicians could all play the same song." Kiyi followed, lugging their bags.

"If you'd gotten up at dawn when I told you, we would have stolen everything we need by now. Next on the list?"

"Tomato-carrots. And I told you I didn't want to steal from anyone…" Kiyi's sheepish look annoyed Azula to no end.

"Then I suppose you worked for that money you have?"

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you think. It's from Zuko, for birthdays and such..."

Azula didn't really feel like she had enough energy to waste it on explaining why Kiyi was wrong.

"Anyway, only other thing we need is rice, but we passed it all the way back there." Kiyi folded their list and put it away, happy that she was finally included in ordinary chores.

"Well, you're distracting me with that ridiculous outfit." Azula turned around to look at her.

"You mean the summer dress?" Kiyi spun around to make her dress twirl, "I think it's pretty. It was the only fun thing in the closet."

"Must have been there when I moved in." Azula looked around before continuing, "I can't believe I let you come in that thing. The whole point is for us to not draw attention to ourselves."

"It'll be fine… I'll go get the rice." Kiyi said and started splitting the money in two. She offered to cover the expenses of today when Azula told her the alternative was stealing. "Actually, I think you should dress like this too. Do you think anyone ever saw a pretty girl in a summer dress and immediately thought _wanted war criminal_?"

"Just go and try to be as mundane as possible." Azula ordered and Kiyi nodded, but as soon as she turned, Azula could see she was already grinning like a crazy person, looking around in amazement at ordinary things.

She could swear, if anything was going to get her caught, it was that girl.

Azula had no problem with her purchase, she's done it a million times, and no one ever gave her a second look. There was, however, a bit of a line in front of the stand, so she took longer than expected. Kiyi should have already been done by then, but she wasn't waiting for her where they agreed to meet.

After a few minutes, Azula realized she was too inpatient to wait and simply started looking for the girl. As soon as she got close to where Kiyi was supposed to be, she noticed a crowd of people dancing in the middle of the street, to the music of a few flutes, lutes and a tsungi horn all playing in unison.

If Azula wasn't already sure Kiyi had something to do with this sudden change in atmosphere, she would have been when she spotted her half-sister spinning in the middle of a dance circle. She thought about calling for her, but that would draw even more attention than this stupidity already has.

Azula started slowly making her way through the crowd as more and more people seemed to be joining the fun. Then she suddenly crashed into someone and fell, dropping her bag.

"I am so sorry… Are you alright?" Azula saw a hand reaching out for her. It didn't take her long to notice that hand was attached to a young man holding a lute.

"Don't worry about it." She ignored the offered help and stood up on her own, before dusting herself off.

"This yours?" the man asked, bending down and handing her the bag of vegetables back. While taking it, Azula accidentally made eye contact, something you didn't want to do if the person wasn't supposed to remember your face. And if the person's smile proved to be distracting.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" the man asked.

"I doubt it."

"You're probably right… I'd remember meeting you." he smiled wider, making her realize where this was going.

"I need to find my…" she started before Kiyi somehow appeared beside her.

"Here you are! What did I miss?" the girl was out of breath, from dancing it would seem, but she wasn't too tired to pick up on the situation quickly and turn her attention to the young musician, "Hi, I'm Kiyi and this is my sister Azula… I love your music."

"Thanks. My name is Mun. You know, Azula, your sister is quite a talented dancer. I haven't seen so many people enjoying themselves here in ages and it's all because of her."

"Thank you." Kiyi answered when she realized Azula wasn't planning to.

"Are you girls from around here?"

"Actuall-"

"No." Azula interrupted Kiyi, and just in time it seemed, "We're just passing by."

"Well, if you ever find yourselves back here…"

"We won't." Azula cut in and started dragging Kiyi away, even though the girl protested.

"What are you doing?" Kiyi asked once they were far enough.

"What are you doing, revealing our names and location to a stranger? Starting dance circles and talking to people…" Azula sighed, "Have you learned nothing?"

"I learned that he likes you. He wouldn't just turn you in…" the girl paused, "And did you see how cute he is? I mean, of course you did, you were blushing."

"I did nothing of the sort!"

"No, I saw you… You blushed when you first saw him." Kiyi teased, like she was a damn five-year-old.

"Enough. Now, please wait for me here and don't do… Anything. Am I making myself clear?"

"But what are you gonn-"

"Kiyi?"

"Crystal clear."

"I'm going to find the musician again."

"Really?" Kiyi's face lit up for a second, before she saw Azula move a dagger from her waist into her sleeve, "No, you're not killing him!"

"Lower your voice."

"You can't kill him. He's harmless." the girl did her best to sound serious while still whispering.

"I wouldn't have to kill him if you knew when to keep your mouth shut."

"Please… We'll move. We'll go live somewhere else. You don't have to."

"I have a good thing going here. I'm not moving. If I have to choose between us and him…" Azula started before turning around and searching the crowd with her gaze. Then she spotted him. Their eyes locked from across the square, where he was preforming for a group of dancing children. He grinned at her like an idiot and was attempting to wave without dropping his instrument, when she finally decided to face her sister again.

"That's not the choice." Kiyi tugged her sleeve.

"We're leaving. There's too many people."

 **oooooooooo**

"When was the last time you played?" Kiyi asked, watching her sister reset the Pai Sho board for maybe the fifth time that day.

"Years ago."

"Then how are you crushing me this bad?" she could have sworn she saw a smile cross Azula's lips.

"Well, for one, you're not very good." Azula moved the first piece, starting the next game, "You have a very expressive face, I can see everything you're thinking."

"I can't help it."

"You should at least try, being unreadable serves you well in real life too."

They were three moves in by that point and Kiyi was already feeling like it's over.

"Did Iroh teach you how to play?" the girl asked, half hoping it would provide some distraction from the board.

"Spirits no," Azula snickered, "He never really liked me. When I was young, he couldn't have picked me out of a line-up of five little girls…"

"Zuko taught me…" Kiyi didn't even finish her sentence before she was interrupted by laughter, "He's not stupid, he can play."

"He's not stupid, but he's impulsive and inpatient. All in all, opposite of what this game requires." While Azula was preoccupied, Kiyi managed to sneak one really good move past her. It should have pissed her off to no end, but in reality, it just made things more interesting.

"My father taught me." Azula continued, "We would play a game every weekend. As I was growing up they would get longer and longer, until finally one day I beat him. I remember feeling so good until I looked over to his face."

"Why?" Kiyi was actually beginning to think she could win this game, if she kept asking questions.

"He didn't like losing… Especially, to his eleven-year-old daughter. I was dumb enough to not anticipate that. But in the end, he taught me a lesson. Never show your hand, so to speak. Let them all underestimate you. Let them think you're a step behind, all the while you're two steps, ten steps ahead of them." with that Azula moved the last piece and won the game.

"I don't think he was teaching you a lesson. I just think he was a sore loser."

"Everything's a lesson if you're watching carefully. Everything you see, everyone you meet, every interaction you have. It would do you good to remember that."

Kiyi loved the fact Azula was beginning to share things. Not a lot and not very personal, but it was progress. Her sister was warming up to her in her own way.

"You want to go again?" Azula interrupted the girl's thoughts, "Or have you had enough defeat for one day, little sister?"

She wouldn't have even noticed what she just said, if not for Kiyi's face immediately lighting up.

"Do you actually like having me around?" the girl asked, deciding not to just let it slide.

"Well, you can't play Pai Sho alone." Azula said, but judged that alone wasn't going to satisfy, "And you entertain me. That's why I always imagined people acquired pets."

Someone else might have taken that as an insult, but not Kiyi. Azula might not have phrased that in the most respectful way possible, but she treated her more like a person than her own mother.

"I think you actually enjoy teaching me stuff."

"And if I was, what kind of _stuff_ would you like to work on next?"

"I know it's raining, but later maybe… We could bend, if you want… Mom never let them show me anything cool."

"We can do it right here, right now." Azula slowly stood up and stretched a bit from sitting.

"You mean… Firebend in the house?"

"It's really not that different… Let me see your firebending stance."

Kiyi immediately obeyed and Azula walked in a circle, inspecting. The legs were adequately far apart, knees bent just enough, back straight to help with breathing. Perfect, really.

"Wrong." Azula concluded.

"What? That's it!"

"Any stance you take is a firebending stance." Azula came face to face with her sister, "Tied up? Firebending stance. Standing on one foot because the other one is broken? Firebending stance. Falling into the abyss on the side of a cliff? Firebending stance."

"But I can't just-" Kiyi straightened her legs again, "If my legs are not far enough-"

"Firebending is not a position, it's a state of mind." Azula tapped the top of Kiyi's head, shoving her backwards.

"Hey!"

"When you're in danger, when you can barely move, that's when you need your fire more than ever. Close your eyes. Do it now!"

And Kiyi did, trying to stand as normally as possible. If she was being honest with herself, she thought learning form Azula was going to be a lot different.

"What stops you from bending isn't the distance between your toes, it's fear, worry, panic…"

"And you'll show me how to block it?"

"You don't block it… No, you concentrate on it. What feeds your fire. What you live for. You take everything you're feeling and you push it all into your fist and then fire comes out." Azula slowly took Kiyi's hand, made a fist and pointed it straight forward, "Do you feel it?"

"I think I do..."

Azula was just about to let her take a shot when there was a knock on the front door.

"Keep concentrating." she yelled a quick instruction and decided to check who it was.

As soon as she stepped into the hallway, she could hear the storm out there was getting worse not that it was almost nighttime. Nevertheless, she opened the door and found herself face to face with her mother.

Despite a few signs of aging, she looked exactly like Azula remembered her. Distraught look and all…

"Kiyi, could you come here for a second?" Azula managed to call out, without ever moving her gaze from Ursa.

Ten years since she saw her mother. Fifteen since she saw her with _this_ face. The face that was somehow always smiling at Zuko and never at her. The face that instantly made her feel nine again. The face that still had power over her.

And they both just stood there, motionless.

"What is it?" Kiyi skipped into the hallway.

"Kiyi, darling!" seeing the girl, Ursa immediately let herself in, rushed beside Azula and pulled Kiyi into a tight hug, "Oh, Spirits are you- You're alright… You had me so… Worried."

"Mom, stop…" Kiyi tried, feeling a bit ambushed by this turn of events.

"What did you do to your hair- Never mind. It'll grow back, we'll fix it… The only thing that matters is that I found you." Ursa leaned in and kissed Kiyi's forehead.

 **oooooooooo**

 _ **A few people suggested Ursa should show her face… And I was planning on it anyway, so yeah, next chapter the girls will have to deal with that.**_

 _ **As for this chapter, it was written kind of in a hurry between two coding projects so please forgive any mistakes.**_

 _ **We saw a little bit of Azula teaching Kiyi as well as Kiyi not letting her big, scary sister kill someone.**_

 _ **Again, thank you for all the compliments in the comments, especially for calling it original :)**_

 _ **I'll probably need about a week again for the next one so stay patient. If you have any thoughts I would love to hear them.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**This took some time, I'm aware, but this chapter was supposed to contain a lot more events, but I decided on splitting it because I don't want this thing to end too quickly.**_

 _ **I finally made a plan, you're in for just two more chapters probably.**_

 **oooooooooo**

 **Chapter 4**

"Knock it off, Mom…" Kiyi gently slit out of the woman's grip, "I'm not coming back with you. Azula, please make her leave."

Kiyi looked to her half-sister, expecting her to obey with pleasure, but instead she was just standing there, looking at them emotionlessly.

"Darling, don't say things like that." Ursa tried to cup her daughter's face, but the girl shifted backward to avoid her.

"Azula? Are you alright?" Kiyi asked but got no answer. Just a long stare.

"Kiyi, she's the one that sent me a letter saying I would find you here. I came as quickly as I could…"

Ursa continued talking, continued explaining herself. There even might have been an apology in there, but Kiyi didn't hear a word of it.

"You turned me in? Why?!" Kiyi marched forward and came face to face with her sister.

"What's the first thing I taught you? Whoever they are, people will always, always choose to help themselves rather than help you. I'm getting my bounty lifted for this, isn't that right?" Azula looked over to their mother.

"I'll talk to Zuko as soon as Kiyi and I are home safe."

"How could you?! How… I thought we were-" Kiyi suddenly went quiet as tears started rolling down her cheeks, first just a few then a lot more.

"Didn't Zuzu warn you? _Azula always lies_." saying that Azula smiled in the most disturbing manner the girl had ever witnessed.

Kiyi just couldn't believe it, she refused to. She felt her mother's hand on her shoulder and it all became too much. Still crying, she bolted to Azula's room and locked herself in.

"Kiyi! Darling, don't-" Ursa tried to yell after her, but lacked words.

"Anyhow," Azula started while putting on her jacket, "you can have the place to yourselves for your emotional theater. I was done with it the second she set foot inside anyway. Feel free to burn it down when you leave…"

She probably wanted at least some kind of a reaction from her mother, but Ursa simply followed after Kiyi and knocked on the locked door.

"Darling, let's talk about this! I'm only here because I care about you!" she continued banging on the door, "We can forget everything that happened here and just go home… Please, darling, talk to me."

"No! I hate you! I hate you both! You two deserve each other!" Kiyi yelled from inside.

It took Azula one lap around the living room before the realization hit that all her stuff was in her suitcase and her suitcase was in her room, locked away with Kiyi. She was pissed, but not too much to appreciate the irony.

After taking a deep breath, she approached the locked door as well.

"I need something from inside, so the sooner you open, the sooner you'll be rid of me forever." Azula said and tried the doorknob. Still locked. "Kiyi, if you don't open this door right this second, I'll blast it down!"

She waited a beat, but heard no movement from inside.

"Fine. If that's what you want, I'm kicking down the door." Azula took a step back to prepare, before finally hearing a reply.

"If you do that I'll burn your stuff!" Kiyi's voice didn't sound so sweet anymore, "I have your passports here, your money… Everything."

"Listen to me, you'll bring my things outside this second, you little-"

"Why should I? It's every person for themselves, isn't it?"

Ursa started feeling like it wasn't safe to just keep observing, she felt like she had to do something since Azula's face was overwhelmed with rage. But just then, the woman surprised her as she exhaled deeply blowing a little fire and calmed down.

"Tough luck, seems your other daughter is broken, too. You probably should have stopped after the first child…" Azula snapped at her mother and saw her jaw clench. She was getting upset by this, she was just trying not to show it.

Getting completely ignored again… No surprise there.

Azula walked into the kitchen, leaving Ursa outside Kiyi's door, still trying to console the girl. This was all too much. It would have all worked out if she could just leave like she planned. But without her fake documents, Azula couldn't get on any ship out of there. What's more, with the storm worsening by the minute, there might not be any more ships leaving the port in a few hours.

She was stuck there! Stuck with the one person she didn't want to see ever again.

The calm, above-it-all facade was slowly slipping, and she didn't want anyone to see that. She slammed her hands on the kitchen counter, now briefly alone, wishing she could just start smashing things. Oh, how she'd like to see all those nice plates break into a million pieces, the cupboards burn with blue flames…

But she couldn't give either of them the satisfaction of hearing her lose it.

She could still hear her mother trying to reason with Kiyi through the door. She thought she could handle it, she really did… In a second her sleeve was rolled up, her thumb firmly pressed into her skin. All she needed was to warm it and it would all get easier to live through.

It's been so long and she still remembered how it helped when it burned. But she worked so had to stop… No! She was better than that!

She pulled he shirt back over the scars and realized she had to keep her hands busy somehow. Making tea was the first thing that came to mind. Those few minutes did calm her down somewhat, but just as she was pouring the water over the leaves, she heard footsteps approaching slowly.

Ursa entered the room in complete silence and sat at the table, not lifting her gaze from her lap at all. For a few moments the only thing that could be heard was Azula moving the porcelain cups around, trying to seem busy.

"How are _you_?" Ursa spoke.

"That's it? Ten years and I get the same question the woman at the bakery asks me every morning?" Azula's hands were trembling far too much to keep fiddling with the tea, "What, nothing else to add?"

"You did a good thing, calling me. Thank you."

"I didn't do it for you." She did it because of how lost and helpless Kiyi looked that first night. She was sure the girl would get hurt if she wasn't brought home immediately, living like this wasn't for the weak, "I did it for myself."

Azula turned around and found the strength to look directly at her mother, but the woman still wasn't doing the same.

"You can't even look at me, can you?" Azula snickered and Ursa shifted slightly, gaze still pointed at her shoes, "Look at me, Mother. Look at me!"

Ursa lifted her gaze and their eyes met.

"You're still terrified of me." Azula said, quickly.

"I'm not. I-"

"Stop." she pulled out a chair and sat opposite her mother, "You're terrible at lying. Terrible at hiding how you feel. And terrible at hiding a knife up your sleeve."

Ursa winced at that and opened her mouth to say something, before giving up and pulling a dagger out onto the table slowly.

"I was right…" Azula chuckled. She really wished it was just her paranoia, but not this time.

"You don't understand… I didn't know what I was walking into, last time I saw you, you were-"

"Completely out of it?"

"I was going to say troubled. I couldn't risk you hurting Kiyi to get back at me. When you requested I come alone-"

"I didn't. I requested Zuko come alone."

"He was busy, he sent me." Ursa's eyes darted to the right shortly. Spirits, she was bad at this.

"You know what I think? I think Zuko doesn't even know Kiyi's missing."

"He's an important man, he has a whole nation counting on him, and I didn't want to distract him."

"But the letter wasn't signed, which means you read everything, don't you? Too bad you didn't have that kind of control over the last Fire Lord, if you did, we'd all still be a happy family."

"That's enough." Ursa didn't raise her voice, but she did make it more firm. It sounded strict enough to make Azula quiet. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about talking to Ursa again made her feel like she was still a child. Azula had all the power in that conversation, but she somehow still found herself being shushed successfully.

"Could you go through with it? Right now," Azula turned the dagger on the table so its blade was pointing towards her, "If I said I'll kill Kiyi, could you use it to slice my throat?"

"I don't- I don't know." tears started collecting in Ursa's eyes, "But… Azula, you have to know I didn't come here, wishing I'd have the strength to use it. I came here dreading I'd have to."

"Well, to be fair if I wanted to set a trap for you, this is exactly how I'd do it." Azula relaxed her hands on the table, "But hurting my- Your daughter was never my objective."

"I see that now." Ursa pushed the dagger aside, and reached over to take Azula's hand. This caught her completely off guard. Years had gone by since she felt genuinely affectionate physical contact. And from her mother of all people…

Azula squeezed her mother's hand back, but only for a moment. She was furious with herself for enjoying it so much, so as soon as she found the strength she pulled back.

"Just go over there, tell Kiyi you'll treat her like an adult and let's put an end to this."

"I can't… You don't understand, she's so young, she needs me there to show her…"

"She's capable of more than you know." Azula couldn't believe she was having this conversation.

"Of course, you say that. Of all my children, you were always the strong one. You never needed anyone."

It took every bit of strength Azula had not to scream back how wrong she was.

"Do you honestly think that, Mother?"

 **oooooooooo**

All that time, Kiyi sat in Azula's room on the floor. She couldn't hear everything that was being said in the kitchen, but she got most of it from context. She was all calmed down now, and slowly realizing she couldn't stay locked in that room indefinitely, no matter how mad she was.

She looked one more time at the small notebook in her hands, thinking about how it would feel to return home. Maybe it would feel good, but she doubted it. It's much easier to live in a cage if you have no idea what you're missing.

"Admit it! Just say you never wanted to have me, I know it's true!" Kiyi heard Azula shouting from the living room now. She leaned on the door to listen more closely.

"I can't, because it's not true!" Kiyi heard Ursa yell, "I swear to all the Spirits! Just because I didn't love your father, that does not mean I don't love you!"

"Admit you never treated me like your daughter because I was too much like him!"

"I- Azula, I-"

"I don't need you to say it, because you already showed you never cared. You chose to forget us! You forgot me, the monster you regretted creating! You even forgot Zuko, the son who refused to forget about you!"

"Stop, right now! I love you both! I know I was never the perfect mother, but I-"

"You were a bad mother! Not only to us, but to your favorite as well. But what are you to do now that she sees you for who you are? You could always promote Zuko back to your favorite, but he has Mai now, he's too independent."

"Azula, that's enough!"

"As soon as we stop making you happy you write us off and move over to the next one, right? But what to do when you run out of children? I know! You can always go out there, find yourself an eager young man and hope it's not too late to try for baby number four!"

Kiyi heard a slap and immediately unlocked the door. Outside the room she found her mother and sister staring at each other. Azula was holding her cheek in shock, while Ursa was frozen still, while tears poured down her face.

It didn't take Kiyi long to figure out what happened.

"Are you insane?!" she ran to her mother, "Did you just slap her?! You can't just hit people because you don't like what they're saying!"

Ursa was still speechless, so Kiyi turned to Azula. In the two short days she spent with her sister, she saw her mad multiple times, but she had never seen that look. A look that made Kiyi feel it was necessary to put herself in front of her mother, even though she was clearly in the wrong here.

Azula still said nothing but looked at the scared faces in front of her, as small sparks started generating at her fingertips. Kiyi was sure they'd finally pushed too far and that this was the end. Her mother closed her eyes, preparing for the worse, but she never broke eye contact with her sister.

Then suddenly, Azula sighed, lowered her hand and ran straight out of the house and into the pouring rain.

"We have to follow her." Kiyi said.

"No."

"Excuse me, what do you mean, no?" Kiyi turned back to her mother.

"This is how we lose her every time. It's better if we just leave, darling, while we can do it painlessly."

"Painlessly?! You and I are far past painless. And you and her are… Why do I have to explain this? I'm going after my sister!" Kiyi said and made a step towards the door, only to be forcefully pulled back.

"You're my daughter, I'm not letting you into that storm."

"Your daughter already is in that storm!"

"You know what I mean, Kiyi. You're not going looking for someone who wants to hurt you." Ursa squeezed her daughter's hand so hard it hurt.

"You're the only one who's hurting people tonight. I need you to see that and go apologize with me." Kiyi hoped this would get through to her mother, but it was beginning to seem like nothing would. Ursa just stood there, still desperately clinging to Kiyi's sleeve.

"Really? Nothing?" Kiyi pulled her hand back, "To quote a bad mother: _What's wrong with you?_ "

And with that Kiyi ran out into the rain too, calling out her sister's name desperately.

 **oooooooooo**

 _ **OK, can we all agree that one would need a psychology degree and at least ten years of patient experience to comfortably discuss the Fire Nation royal family and all the complex processes in the background of it? I have neither and I tried my best from the limited screen time Ursa got in flashbacks and comics.**_

 _ **I know I kind of made her a bad guy, but in my head there will always be some stuff she has no excuse for. I'm sorry if you like her and think she should just apologize to Azula and everything should be alright.**_

 _ **The sad truth of life is that often when you confront your abusers they don't see/ don't want to see anything wrong with their abuse/neglect.**_

 _ **A thing I realized while writing this (it's not really a breakthrough, but I'm slow to conclusions):**_

 _ **Ursa's last words to Zuko before leaving were: "No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are." And that is literally the first thing she did after leaving! Forget who she was! Forget him!**_

 _ **Screw that…**_

 _ **Anyway, Kiyi was kind of boxed away for this chapter, but she'll be here a lot starting next time.**_

 _ **Reviews are welcome, I'm so thankful for the ones I got until now, update soon hopefully… :)**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**The chapter is here, one more left…**_

 **oooooooooo**

 _ **gemsofformenos**_ _ **– Thanks for always taking the time to comment on the newest chapter, it brings a smile to my face every time… I just wanted to say that I do agree with you that Ursa would like to fix her relationship with Azula, and that she'd do anything to make that happen, EXCEPT put either Kiyi or Zuko in danger. I think that is just too high a price for her.**_

 _ **So you see in the previous chapter she sees Azula as a threat to Kiyi, not only in a physical kind of way, but also because Azula could potentially "turn Kiyi against her". That's why she isn't trying harder to win Azula over, even though under any other circumstances that would be her primary concern.**_

 _ **That's what I was going for anyway, but it's alright if you still don't agree. I just hope it doesn't stop you from following the story.**_

 **oooooooooo**

 **Chapter 5**

"Azula!"

In just a few minutes Kiyi was soaking wet and cold to her core, but she couldn't stop. Even though her yelling was being drowned out by the wind and thunder, she couldn't give up. None of this would be happening right now is she'd just stayed at the palace like her mother wanted.

"Azula! Please come back!"

Then she heard thunder behind here, but it sounded quieter and closer than those before. She turned around and ran towards faint flashes of blue she could see a couple of streets over. When she turned a corner, she found herself face to face with her sister again.

The initial relief faded when Kiyi noticed what appeared to be five lifeless bodies lying on the street surrounding her sister. Azula spread her hands and smiled, looking like she was enjoying her sister's shock.

"Run home, Kiyi! You're not cut out for this!" Azula said and slowly started walking further down the street.

It took Kiyi a few extra seconds to snap out of her shock, but she did. Passing the bodies, she noticed a poster with her sister's picture lying on the ground next to them. Bounty hunters… They were really everywhere.

"I don't care that you killed them." Kiyi followed a step after Azula, a distance she judged to be safe, but clearly wasn't, "I just want you to come back to the house with me."

"Leave me alone!" Azula snapped at her.

"There is no excuse for how she behaved tonight, but if you just come back and take your stuff… I promise she won't do anything else."

"No. I don't need anything from her! I would rather deal with people like that hunting me down till the end of my days, than grovel in front of her!" Azula stopped where she stood.

"Then we'll go find Zuko, just the two of us. He'll listen to me. He'll lift your bounty."

"Don't you get it? No, he won't. He won't if she says I messed with your head." Azula turned to Kiyi, "Aren't you mad at me, anyway? What do you care? I betrayed you. I tattled to Mommy…"

"I am mad." Kiyi said, "But I forgive you."

Azula snickered at that.

"Because I think I get it now…" Kiyi pulled Azula towards a building nearby that had a big balcony they could stand under. She seemed so uncharacteristically determined, that Azula decided to let her have her way.

Once they were out of the rain, Kiyi took a deep breath and started talking.

"When I was little-"

"Listen, I don't have time for your whole life story!" Azula interrupted, "I just want to get out of here and you're like a giant annoying suitcase that I do not plan on lugging along…"

"Can you just listen to me this once?!" Kiyi insisted.

"Alright, say your piece, but then I'm leaving." Azula wasn't sure whether it was some kind of guilt for calling their mother or something different, but she calmed down and waited for her sister to start.

"As I was saying, when I was little I wasn't allowed to spend any time with kids my age. Mom wanted to keep me safe and she succeeded, but she also kept me from having friends and getting into trouble and living a normal life. I mean, I did have Tom-Tom, but he never liked me. He always called me Tower Girl, you know, because I never left the palace…"

"Kiyi."

"Alright, I got side-tracked… Let me start over." Kiyi said, causing Azula to sigh, "When I moved to the palace they gave me your room. They didn't tell me that, I just figured it out when I found this."

Kiyi pulled an old notebook out of her jacked and handed it over. Azula hadn't thought about those worn-out covers with blue rims in years, but it all came back in a second when she saw it.

"It's your old diary."

"Journal." Azula took the fragile little notebook into her hands and opened a random page.

"Of course, sorry. You started writing it when you were around seven and that's also how old I was when I found it. And since no one would talk to me about you, the only things I knew were that you were my sister and also that you were never coming back. But then I learned more. You wrote about your friends and about Zuko and about how mean Mom was to you… That thing soon became my best and only friend," Kiyi pointed, making a pause for a deep breath, "I must have read it a thousand times."

"This is how you found me while everyone else failed?" Azula asked, moving her gaze from the journal.

"On the back you had your emergency plan in case Zuko became Fire Lord and wanted to kill you. I started visiting all the places until I- Well, you get it. I really thought I knew you from those pages, even though you never mentioned a couple things, like how cruel your father was to you. But the thing is, this ends at you being fourteen and I've had to come up with my own sequel. And in my version, you ran away from Mom and you found a bunch of awesome friends in the world and maybe a handsome boyfriend and you've forgotten all about everything that used to trouble you."

Kiyi stopped again to breathe since this was the first time she ever said any of that to another person. Her sister also seemed a bit overwhelmed, but she was surprised most of all.

"But now I see that none of that happened," Kiyi continued, "Because we never let you be free to do that. You're just trapped by this invisible- And just to make it shorter, I'll just say it… I'm going back to Mom and telling her you convinced me to returnto the palace. And I'll go back with her and be a good daughter and you'll get your freedom back."

"You- Why? Why would you-" Azula was beyond shocked.

"Because I tracked you down and I destroyed what little peace you had. And because I read your diary, that was not cool. You can take it back now." Kiyi took a step away from her sister and towards the rain, "I don't know what I was expecting when I went looking for you. I guess, that you'll take care of me and keep me safe. But I don't know how I expected that when no one ever did it for you. But I get it now… What I have to do. I'll go back to the palace, so you can wear summer dresses and dance in the street and tell cute boys your real name…"

"Kiyi, I really-"

"I'll go now because I don't like crying in front of you and goodbyes make me cry," she turned away, "Have a nice life."

And with that Kiyi ran back into the rain.

 **oooooooooo**

It was already morning when Azula decided to start walking back to her house. The heavy rain had turned to a light drizzle and people were already up and walking about. The best possible turn of events for her would be if when she opened her front door, she found the house empty. No mother, no daughter… Yet, there was something inside her that carried a slight hope that she'd find just Kiyi there, grinning because she figured out a way to stay.

However, the house was empty. Fine… Good.

Since she was no longer in a hurry, Azula decided to pack up all her things before leaving, not just the essentials she had ready last night. She found Kiyi's _hard-earned_ money tucked into the suitcase clumsily, but other than that the house looked like neither her sister or her mother were ever there. Azula tried to forget it too, just push it out of her mind and pretend it was just another relocation for anonymity's sake. It proved to be harder than she expected.

She only broke down crying once during the whole packing, while she was putting away her childhood journal. Guess, the weight of what happened the night before was finally hitting her. Living alone was the only way of life she'd known for a good number of years now, but going back to it after two days of living with her sister seemed impossible somehow.

But this was what Kiyi wanted. What she said she wanted.

After a trying hour, Azula was finally outside her house surrounded by her suitcases. She wore the stupid floral pattern dress Kiyi found the first morning, because… Well, if her calculations were right and the seas were calm enough, her mother was talking to Zuko about her bounty right now. She was about to be free.

So to celebrate she put on the dress, but over pants because you never know when you'll find yourself in a fight… And she let down her hair, partly, because it could blind her during an attack… Soon she wouldn't have problems if people noticed her.

While waiting for the carriage that would take her things to the port, she thought about what Kiyi would be doing if she was there with her. Probably talking her ear off, or trying to imagine how the new house would look, or…

Azula moved a few steps away from her bags and twirled. She must have been doing it wrong because Kiyi looked like she quite enjoyed it every time. Azula tried spinning a few more times, faster and faster, wondering it this even counted as dancing. Then out of sheer boredom she did a cartwheel and a couple of flips before spinning a few more times. She was starting to get into it, when she heard a voice behind her.

"You know, it's better with music."

Azula immediately stopped everything and turned around, recognizing the owner of the voice as Mun, the musician from the town square.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, since he never got more than her name.

"Well, I wanted to find you, so I asked around for the most beautiful woman in the neighborhood and here I am." he smirked.

"Listen-"

"Joke. OK? Joke." he laughed to himself, "I asked around for _Azula_ and _Kiyi_ , but no one knew anything. Then I spotted you accidentally."

"But why were you looking?"

He smiled and walked two steps closer. Too close, by what Azula was used to.

"Yesterday, a few scary-looking men came to ask questions about someone named Azula."

So he was the reason those _gentleman_ had to die last night. Amazing… Too bad Kiyi wasn't here so Azula could show her how right she was about talking to this guy…

"I told them I didn't know anything," he continued, "But they looked like they were bad news, so I just wanted to check up on you. See if everything was alright."

"Oh. That's good, I guess… Yes, it's good of you." she wondered briefly what was it about this particular man that restricted her usually quite extensive vocabulary.

"So you're OK?" he asked, "Your sister too?"

"Yes. I'm actually leaving soon and Kiyi's already left."

"I figured everything was good, since you didn't really strike me as the dancing type."

"Oh, I'm definitely not."

"Well, music helps and… Having someone to do it with." he reached for her hand, but she beat him to it, catching his wrist violently. It was purely a subconscious reflex, she didn't even know she was doing it until it was done.

"I'm sorry… You were being nice." she paused, "Why? Why were you being nice? Don't you want to know what those men wanted with me?"

Mun looked to the sky like he was thinking and then said, "No. Not really. I figured if I never see you again, it doesn't really matter… And if we do get to know each other better, then you'll tell me when you're ready."

Azula didn't speak after that, but she did let go of his arm. She let him adjust them into a dancing position and followed his lead as he wobbled them in a certain pattern. It was dumb, but she could kind of see why people liked it so much. Then she accidentally locked eyes with Mun and it got a whole new dimension. And then she… She…

"No." she said and took a few steps back.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked immediately.

"No, you… You do all that for some other young lady, and it will be a sure deal. I just… I have somewhere to be. And someone to be there with…" Azula started walking away from the house and towards the port. Slowly at first, but she was picking up the pace.

Mun nodded in agreement but wasn't sure if she even saw him. When he remembered she left all her stuff behind she was too far for him to call over.

 **oooooooooo**

 _ **Here. Our sisters are separated, but hopefully not for too long.**_

 _ **Azula figured out there are more important things to think about than cute neighbors….**_

 _ **I don't know if you ever had a sibling take the fall for you because you've already been through some stuff… But I can say it's pretty great. And also it immediately fills you with guilt.**_

 _ **So here we have Kiyi doing something selfless because she grew up surrounded by some good role-models (from the Gaang) and she knows that evil is not born, it's made and so is good.**_

 _ **Anyway, one more chapter is coming… Stay patient.**_

 _ **I hope you enjoyed it an look forward to reading any and all thoughts :)**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**This chapter kind of got away from me, so it's a bit longer… But it is the last one so I didn't think you would mind.**_

 **oooooooooo**

 **Chapter 6**

"Here. It's just like you left it, darling." Ursa led her daughter into her room after she was thoroughly washed of her time spent amongst the commoners. Now that she was appropriately dressed, Kiyi almost looked like nothing changed. But in reality, everything did.

"Are you going to speak to Zuko after this?" the girl walked over to her dresser and sat down, staring at herself in the mirror.

"He's not here right now. That's right, you don't know… Him and Mai are coming back this afternoon for their engagement party."

Kiyi looked at her mother's face in the mirror.

"Yes, they finally settled on a date… I'm so proud. So you see, I can't do it at the party…"

"So you'll do it when everyone's gone home?" Kiyi asked.

"I don't think it's right, ruining their good mood with something like that."

"Do you understand that right this second someone could be chocking the life out of Azula?!"

"Darling, why would you say something like that…" Ursa sat beside her daughter with a worried expression, "We never asked for her to be harmed, we simply wanted her to come home. Would that be the worst thing in the world, if she came home?"

"It would. You promised-"

"Alright! I'll talk to your brother after the party." Ursa grabbed a strand of Kiyi's hair, "And I'll send someone to take care of your hair, it's a little uneven."

"My sister cut it. It's perfect." Kiyi said, mostly to annoy her mother.

"I know you're overwhelmed now, but things will be back to normal before you know it."

After saying that Ursa slowly made her way out of the room, but not before glancing back one more time at her daughter. Sitting and staring at the mirror sadly really wasn't like her Kiyi.

 **oooooooooo**

The party started at six o'clock, but Kiyi made sure she came to the ballroom early. She put on the dress that was laid out for her, she shooed away a hairdresser her mother sent and put her hair into a little bun herself. She couldn't leave her room without two guards following her, which was annoying, but also expected.

She patiently awaited her brother's return, knowing there was no way she could miss it, since he always had a horde of people surrounding him with questions and news. When she noticed this mass of people entering she sprinted across the room and elbowed her way into Zuko's line of sight.

"Hey, Z… Can I talk to you about something?" Kiyi was advised against using the nickname Zuzu in front of the press.

"Sure, Kiyi. How did the private painting lessons go?"

"The what?"

"The painting lessons on Ember Island?"

He didn't even know she ran away. Of course, he didn't.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about… You see-"

"Excuse me, Fire Lord, but I have just received news that the cooks have absolutely nothing vegetarian to offer for the Avatar." a servant interrupted her.

"That can't be true… They must have some rice in the kitchen, let me talk to them." Zuko gestured the man to lead the way, "See you at the party, Kiyi."

As she watched him walk away, Kiyi realized there was no way she could tell him the whole story before the guests start arriving. She'd just have to wait.

The party was boring as usual. A lot of very important people attended, all the people that knew her as the Fire Lord's cute little sister Kiki, or Kimi…

Mai's brother Tom-Tom was there, being his usual arrogant self. Kiyi whished more than anything that she could tell him how not two days ago she got firebending lessons from none other than Princess Azula herself. That would shut him up for sure…

Then, just when she found a quiet corner of the room, she felt someone drag her behind one of the pillars, while putting a hand over her mouth. She couldn't say anything, but she did try to struggle her way out of the person's grip until she recognized her. It was Azula, all dressed up to fit into the formal party.

Since Kiyi calmed down, Azula let go of her slowly.

"What are you doing here?" Kiyi asked.

Azula looked around to see if they were being watched before speaking, "I came to get you out."

"But you can't… They'll never leave you alone if-"

"Listen, I'm an adult, I know what I'm doing. I know you're not exactly being tortured here, but I want you to live the way you want to because… Well, you know."

Kiyi smiled widely instead of a response and jumped forward to hug her sister. Azula returned the hug carefully, not really able to remember the last time she was a part of one.

"Alright… Easy now, we mustn't draw attention to ourselves." Azula said and Kiyi immediately let go of her.

"I see you took my dress advice."

"Yes, that was brilliant. I put this ridiculous thing on and no one paid any attention to my face."

"But there are a lot of people here who know your face very well. Not just our family, the whole Team Avatar is here."

"Don't worry, we'll slip out just as easily as I got in." Azula said, "You must be happy to have proved me wrong."

At first Kiyi didn't know what she was talking about, but then she remembered, "You told me the first night, that if someone had to choose between helping themselves and someone else, they would always choose themselves. But I didn't. I came back home, so you could be happy."

"Yes, you did."

"And you did, too. You could have just stayed away and you would have been free. But you came here, risking your life for me."

Azula hadn't even thought about that. Kiyi broke the rule, but so did she.

"Oh, no." Kiyi said suddenly, looking over Azula's shoulder.

"What?" Azula knew better than to turn around.

"It's Katara. She's heading over here."

Seeing Kiyi's expression, Azula concluded Katara must have been pretty close, so she simply waved goodbye as to not seem suspicious and walked to the other side of the pillar where the woman couldn't see her.

"What are you up to, Kiyi?" Katara finally made her way through the crowd, "You must be excited for your brother…"

"Yes, very much so…"

"Oh, you're getting so big, you know that?" Katara reached forward and pinched the girl's cheek, "I love that dress on you."

"Thank you." Kiyi said and smiled, thinking that would signal the woman that the conversation was over, but Katara just kept standing there, like she was waiting for something.

"And how's the baby doing?" Kiyi finally figured out what it was.

"Oh, we're both doing just wonderful." Katara rubbed her already visible belly, "You know, we've been talking about names a lot lately, Aang and I. You know, all ancient airbender names are so _interesting_ , but I think the child might like something more-"

"Sorry, Kat, I just remembered Mother told me I should tell you to go find her as soon as I saw you."

"Oh, did she say-"

"She just said it was very important…"

Katara nodded and slowly walked away, keeping an eye out for Ursa. Well, Kiyi wasn't planning on staying long enough to have to explain that. She looked behind the pillar where Azula was supposed to be hiding, but there was no one there.

Then her sister appeared behind her somehow and started pulling her by her hand into a hallway.

"I stand corrected, this ocean of small talk is essentially torture." the woman said and Kiyi smiled.

They hurried trough he hallway in total silence for a few minutes.

"So how are we getting out?" Kiyi asked finally, looking a bit concerned.

"I never go anywhere without a plan. Don't worry, I know this palace. There's a secret passage right-" Azula saw something and pushed Kiyi aside so they could hide from a pair of guards who were coming their way.

"When did they start patrolling here?" Azula whispered to herself. She clearly remembered sneaking down there while she was a child and playing stupid games with her friends. Of course, Mai must have remembered that too. She was probably the one who assigned the guards.

Kiyi would have been happy to inform her of that before they were almost caught, but she didn't know what her sister's plan was. She just assumed it was perfect.

"No matter." Azula added, seeing the worried look on her little sister's face, "We'll go some other way. Maybe the southeastern stairwell. It's guarded, but not heavily… Or… Kiyi, what do you think we should do?"

"Me?" the girl's face lit up.

"Yes, you. You live here. Where should we go?"

Kiyi thought for no more than a couple of seconds and started leading them towards the back of the palace. There were a lot of hallways and passages, but Kiyi looked like she knew what she was doing. They managed to evade every guard for some time, but at last a man appeared in front of them.

"You shouldn't be sneaking around here this time of night, Kiyi…" he started before he moved his gaze to the woman she was with. His entire face went white in a single second as he stood there frozen.

He obviously knew exactly who Azula was and he didn't plan on staying there and dealing with her wrath. He dropped his weapon and started running away, yelling for help.

Azula almost instinctively got herself ready to fire a bolt of lightning, but then realized she couldn't. It would be seen as an act of aggression. The public already saw her as a complete monster, she shouldn't give them more reason to hate her. But he would surely call more men.

"I'm sorry, I made a mistake." Kiyi said, defeated.

"No, it's… We're still getting out. Come on, we must hurry."

Azula pulled her sister's hand again and ran with her as close to the back gate as possible without running into a guard. When they did, they hid in an empty room, hoping no one would think to check it.

It seemed to work for a few minutes until the door to the small room opened and Mai looked at them from the hallway. Azula immediately placed herself in front of Kiyi, but no one said anything. Mai didn't draw her knives. Azula didn't firebend.

"Please." Kiyi said quietly, thinking a long explanation would just make things seem worse.

Mai looked at the girl she came to love like her own little sister. Then she looked at the _friend_ whom she feared her whole childhood.

The next movement in the room was Mai closing the door, pretending she didn't see anything of interest.

"This floor is empty! Everyone upstairs!" they heard Mai's order from outside.

Azula was beyond confused, but the two of them didn't really have time to discuss it right there and then. After they left the room, getting out was easy with all the guards following Mai's orders.

 **oooooooooo**

Azula had a specific ship in mind for their escape, but they had to swim to it to be sure they weren't seen. They found a tiny place in the cargo hold where they would be safe from detection and Azula managed to steal some dry clothes for a start.

They dressed in silence, with their backs turned to each other, both of them worrying about what the other one was thinking. Azula wondered if Kiyi was already regretting running away again, if she might have been better off had she never found the journal that set her on this path. Kiyi wanted to know if her big sister already regretted throwing away her first and only chance at a normal life for someone she barely knew. The answer to both their questions was _no_ , but neither of them dared ask.

"Thank you. I don't think I remembered to say it in there…" Kiyi broke the silence, sitting new to her sister on the floor.

Azula didn't really know how to respond. What do people usually say to that? She somehow felt the thank you was unearned, even though she did just risk her life for the girl. It was a strange feeling.

"So where are you going after this? Staying with me or do you have your own plan?" she asked to change the subject.

"I think I'll stay with you for now." Kiyi gently rested her head on Azula's shoulder, absolutely shocking the woman, "If you don't mind."

"No, I don't." she managed to say finally.

"Do you still have your dia- journal?"

"No, I left it behind when I decided to get you. Why?"

"Well, whenever I had trouble falling asleep, I would read something from it over and over again. Usually the school adventures with your friends."

"You know, I remember a lot of stories I didn't have the patience to describe in writing. Anything particular you're curious about?"

"How about something from when you were chasing the Avatar?" Kiyi shifted her head a bit to be more comfortable leaning on her sister and then closed her eyes.

"Well, has Mai ever told you about the time Tom-Tom was kidnapped?"

"No way! When?"

"He was no more than a toddler, I doubt he even remembers… Ty Lee and I arrive at Omashu to see Mai, and she tells us someone from the resistance had taken her brother. Cowards, taking on the weak because they cannot match up to the strong… I decided to take matters into my own hands, because the stakes were too high. Mai and I agreed on using a bluff, but when we came to the meeting I recognized the Avatar. It was the first time I'd seen him."

"So he took Tom-Tom? That doesn't sound like Aang…"

"I don't think he did… Even then, I didn't think so, but it didn't matter. Whoever did take him greatly underestimated how protective big sisters can be…"

 **oooooooooo**

"Azula, you need to see this! Wake up!"

The Princess opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was her sister's excited face as she was shaking her awake. It was the third day of the two of them being stowaways on a cargo ship and frankly, they were both sick of it.

"Not so loud… What is it?" Azula looked left and right, worried Kiyi's overly enthusiastic wake-up call might have attracted some unwanted attention.

"I woke up first, so I went to see if I could steal some food for us, but instead I saw this! Look, read it…" Kiyi handed Azula a scroll.

It was a royal proclamation by the looks of it.

"… _Even though Princess Azula has been seen infiltrating the royal event and leaving with the Lady Kiyi, the Fire Lord ensures it was in fact not a kidnapping or an attempt at assassination by the disgraced princess_ …" Azula read but then stopped for a second to look at Kiyi.

"Keep going." the girl urged her.

"Blah, blah, blah… _Furthermore, the Fire Lord hereby revokes the promise of reword upon the Princess' capture and discontinues the search for her._ " Azula stopped talking as her eyes went over that last sentence over and over again. Making sure it was real.

"I told you Zuko would come through!" Kiyi beamed watching a smile overtake her sister's face.

"Do you understand what this means, Kiyi?" Azula asked carefully, almost like she was afraid to show any kind of happiness.

"You're free! You can do whatever you want… You can even go back to being a Princess."

"No. That's not what it said. Zuzu didn't say my charges were dropped, he just said the search was called off. This, Kiyi, means that I can settle down anywhere outside the Fire Nation and no one can come and drag me to a trial." Azula couldn't help but sound a bit excited. After all, it's been so long…

"How about me?" Kiyi asked.

"They explicitly said it wasn't classified as a kidnapping which means, for the time being, no one will come looking for you either." Just as Azula was finishing her point, Kiyi cut her off with a hug.

 **oooooooooo**

 _ **6 months later…**_

"I'm back." Azula said, while closing the front door. She was carrying quite a few grocery bags and now she could finally set them down in the kitchen. Well, it wasn't so much a kitchen as the part of the main room appointed as the kitchen. After deciding to give up on crime they've both had to adopt a more modest lifestyle. However, it was more of a step down for Kiyi.

" _Your continuous need to state the obvious simply baffles me._ " Kiyi said, not moving her gaze from the book she was reading at the table.

"What?" Azula glared at the girl, who didn't see it, but could feel it.

"That's what you tell me when I say things like _It's raining_ or _Your hair's getting quite long_ …" Kiyi answered with a smile. Almost like she was mocking her sister. "The fact that you are back is obvious, because if you were in fact not back, you would be unable to tell me anything."

"Oh, I'm sorry…" a small smile appeared on Azula's lips too, "It was an abbreviation for _I'm back so get those books to your room and set the table because we're eating soon_."

She was referring to the dozen books and notebooks her sister had laid out across the dining table. After all, that was the only decent place in that house one could do their homework.

"Can I just finish this section?"

"Sure." Azula looked over the girl's notes briefly, then patted her shoulder and carried on with unpacking the bags.

"How was the market? Anything interesting happen?" Kiyi spoke after a few silent minutes.

"Of course, I was briefly kidnapped by a watertribean gang and had to quickly rise through the ranks by employing my unique knowledge of-"

"Come on… I meant like, did you meet anyone?"

"Sure. I arrived at the vegetable stand and three men felt to their knees instantly, asking for my hand in marriage…"

To anyone listening it might have sounded like Azula's sarcasm was a sign of hostility, but Kiyi knew better. When Azula spoke in that particular tone, her _Kiyi tone_ , it was her way of being friendly. It wasn't hard to spot if you knew what to look for. It was a little warmer, a little less reserved and often accompanied by an almost smile.

"I know you're joking, but they should…" Kiyi said, before hearing voices from outside their front door.

"My Lord, I cannot possible let you in alone."

"It is our duty to protect you."

"I command you to wait for me outside."

Recognizing the last speaker, Kiyi looked over to her sister.

"Want me to open the door?" she offered.

"No. The mighty Fire Lord can do it himself." Azula said and positioned herself between Kiyi and the door.

The voices suddenly quieted down and Zuko went in alone. He'd clearly changed a lot since Azula saw him last. He was a bit taller now, bigger, his hair long again. He did everything to look like a proper Fire Lord, but his scar was still just as striking as ever.

"If you've come to try and take Kiyi," Azula spoke up first, "I have to warn you, you're in for the fight of your life. I don't intent to lose this time."

"I'm not. I swear it." Zuko stopped where he stood, "I simply came to check up on you. Both of you."

He shifted his gaze from Azula to Kiyi and then back to Azula. It was clear he was studying her appearance too, trying to deduce what kind of a person she was now. There is no telling how long the two siblings would have stared at each other like that, in tense silence, if Kiyi wasn't there to make the first move.

The girl got up from the table, hurried to her brother and put her hands around him before Azula could warn her to be more careful. In just a moment Zuko's serious expression melted into a smile as he returned the hug.

"Zuzu, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you anything."

"It's my fault." he said, "I've been absent. I…"

"You trust Mother far more than she deserves." Azula added, still ready to jump at the earliest sign of hostility from him.

"I did. I'll admit that." Zuko sighed, "But when she finally told me what's been going on I let you go, didn't I?"

It looked like Zuko was fishing for some kind of thank you from Azula, but he soon realized he'd get none.

"Thank you for that…" Kiyi said instead of her sister.

"So you two are really happy living together like this?" Zuko gestured to their quite modest home, "I had to see it to believe it."

"Of course, we are. Azula's working and I'm finally going to a normal school…" Kiyi begun.

"Contrary to what our mother would have you believe, I am perfectly capable of coexisting with another human being." Azula cut in, "Our sister is well taken care of. You can check her teeth and nails if you don't believe me…"

After saying that, Azula relaxed, turned around and went back to unpacking her groceries and setting the table for dinner. It was a bit rude, but ignoring was preferable to threatening.

"She's joking, but she's been really wonderful." Kiyi started, "She has a sweet teaching job now that people are not trying to catch her every two days... And she's writing a book which, based on the chapters I read, is going to absolutely kill!"

"It sounds great, but…" Zuko paused, "I did speak to mother before I came here…"

Azula almost bit through her tongue trying to not say anything and let Kiyi handle it.

"I know she asked you to convince me to come back home," Kiyi said, sitting down at the table, "But for me, this is home now."

"Actually," Zuko sat down as well, "she said _Zuko, bring your sisters home_ …"

Azula interrupted him with a snicker.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing… I find it funny how you still cannot lie to save your life. She wouldn't say that…" Azula sat down opposite him.

"She did. But that's not what I'm going to do. Because she told me everything that happened… The reason Kiyi escaped, the letter she hid from me, the dagger she brought for you and after hearing it all, I have to say… I think our family works best if we have a bit of space each. Because we're all insane…"

Azula and Kiyi couldn't help, but laugh at that.

"No, no, no…" Zuko continued with a smile, "Mai's been right for years. This whole family, none of us can act like normal people. So I thought I'd just let you two be happy and you could visit sometimes. You know, come to the wedding, maybe. Just to see Mom a bit."

"Yeah, I can do that." Kiyi said, "Can Azula come?"

"Of course." Zuko nodded, "We'll have to have a casual royal pardoning before, but yes."

"There's no way I'm doing that."

"Don't worry, I'll convince her." Kiyi said.

"No, you won't." Azula spoke again, stricter this time.

Kiyi didn't deny it, but she did nod slightly at Zuko.

"You know, Azula," the Fire Lord started, catching his sister's attention, "I placed that reward for your capture a decade ago and no one's ever been close… What I'm trying to say is… I was sure you were dead. I didn't want to deal with it, but I was pretty sure. And I'm glad you're not."

Azula was quiet, but then noticed both her siblings staring at her.

"What do you two want?! I'm glad you're still alive, Zuzu… Enough?"

"Yeah, enough for me…" Zuko said and turned to Kiyi, "You?"

"I'm almost jealous…" the girl answered, "I missed you, Zuko. You know, you can come by here anytime you want."

"I don't think my security detail would like that very much."

"Then don't bring them…" Azula cut in, "We're three firebending descendants of Avatar Roku. I don't think there's a soul alive try would be stupid enough to try something."

 **oooooooooo**

 _ **Here you have it.**_

 _ **I went for a happy ending because… Well, cause I like happy endings so sue me…**_

 _ **Anyway, Azula acts against her golden rule about always looking out for number one and gets all the good things happen to her… Zuko decides to start being a good brother…**_

 _ **I'm actually really sad this is done (even though it took me considerably longer to finish it than I would have liked). I sincerely hope you enjoyed it :)**_

 _ **For anyone who liked this even a little bit, I would like to refer you to another story of mine, called While The Parents Are Away because it features a grown-up Azula reconnecting with the Gaang (in a way). It's in the LOK section because it stars the Gaang's children and adult Azula is like a secret treat… So if you've enjoyed LOK as well, give it a try.**_

 _ **I will also direct your attention to another "Azula on the run" story I'm starting… It's gonna be an Azula/OC romance so anyone who's sick of that… Maybe just try the first one I mentioned…**_

 _ **And in the end, a big thanks to anyone who commented, favorited the story, sent me a message or just spent their time reading this…. Thank you all :)**_

 _ **And remember, it takes hours to write stories, but just seconds to write reviews.**_


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